1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a boot-retaining apparatus, and more particularly, to a boot-retaining unit of a ski binding or snowboard binding, having a boot-retaining device which is retained compliantly by virtue of a spring mechanism, and having a hydraulic impact damper which is arranged parallel to the spring mechanism and is in the form of a piston/cylinder mechanism.
1. Description of Prior Art
A boot-retaining unit of a ski binding forms the subject matter of German Patent No. 37 43 966 C2. According to this document, one spring abutment, which is coupled to two releasable boot-retaining elements, is additionally connected to one end of a hydraulic impact damper. The damper is arranged parallel to the helical compression spring. The other abutment of the spring is formed by one arm of a double-armed lever, which is normally supported on a stationary housing part of a lever, the latter being pivotable around a housing-mounted pin, and its other arm being connected to the other end of the impact damper. When abrupt forces act on the boot-retaining elements, the first-mentioned spring abutment is moved abruptly. This results in the impact damper jolting the double-armed lever, as a result of which the latter is initially pivoted counter to the force of the helical compression spring and temporarily increases the stressing of the helical compression spring to a considerable extent. It is only after a certain delay that the compliance of the impact damper takes effect, with the result that the double-armed lever is pivoted back and resume its position in which its arm which supports the helical compression spring rests against the stationary housing element.
German Patent No. 39 35 551 A1 discloses a functionally similar binding in which the impact damper is arranged equiaxially with the helical compression spring and within the spring coils.
Up until now, ski bindings in which boot-retaining elements are coupled to hydraulic impact dampers have not proved successful. The probable reason for this primarily resides in the fact that impact dampers designed as piston/cylinder units start to leak comparatively easily over extended non-use phases and thus become largely unusable. Skis are usually used only over a short period of time in the year. More often than not, they are kept in some kind of storeroom, and are often exposed to extreme temperatures. The same applies for the bindings mounted on the ski.